It'll Be Fine
by alextheweenieking
Summary: A Lars-centric story without any major plotline tbh. an emotional 'slice-of-life' kinda thing (Future chapters will probably contain: mental health issues, self-destructive actions and references, sad junk, talk about death, the whole 9 yards. also stuff like trans boy lars and junk).
1. Routine

The morning sun bathed the entire town in rosy illumination, shining off the early dewdrops so that every yard seemed to sparkle in the light. Daybreak was soft and melodic in their small community, but powerful enough to beam across the sky with the bright dictation that a new day had begun once again.

Light had flooded the room through the tinted curtains as Lars rolled onto the floor with a groan. What was a new day for everyone else was just another reason for him to leave the bed. After a few minutes had passed, he gathered the energy to lift himself so he was sitting towards the window, and scratched through his curls with a tired sigh. He reached up, letting his fingertips lazily graze the edge of the wood shelf for a second before grabbing his phone and checking the time.

8:34 a.m. He was used to it. It'd gotten to the point where he barely needed an alarm at all.

The redhead stood from his sheets with a grumble and cracked his back until the small 'pops' came to a stop. He wobbled to the hallway, sock-sliding across the floor and into the living room, where his dad sat watching TV and tinkering with his phone.

Lars rubbed his eyes, lazily plopping down on the arm of the couch. "Morning, kiddo," his father grinned at him before turning his attention back to the new device. The teen just nodded in return before heading to the kitchen.

"So, there's this weird lady on my phone called a 'Siri'. What's she for? I can't type anything in."

He pursed his lips together, popping a few pieces of bread into the toaster. "She, like…helps you find stuff and junk. You talk to her." His dad nodded slowly, the gears in his head visibly beginning to turn. "Alright, alright…how do I get rid of her?"

"Why'dya wanna get rid of her?"

"She's a little annoying. How do I uninstall her?"

Lars reached up into the cabinet, balancing on his toes with a strained laugh. "Is this the first time you've had issues scaring off a chick? Let your roots go grey again, she'll leave," he mumbled as he rolled back onto his heels. He heard a chuckle and a tongue-click from across the room. "Sure, or I could just tell her I have a teenager and I'm not afraid to use them."

"Nah, man, you can't use me for your sick lady games," the redhead joked half-heartedly, momentarily swiping through his apps. "I gotta get to work." His dad turned in his spot on the couch. "Are you gonna come back with burnt tonsils this time? I don't want to buy another five pints of ice cream, kid."

He shook his head with a breathy laugh. "No, but we can get ice cream anyway."

"Why don't _you _go buy it, then you can come back and tell me how amazingly cheap it is, right?"

Lars shrugged, plucking at the wooden counter with his nails. "Sure, when I get my paycheck. It's mine, though." The older man smiled with a laugh before turning back to the TV. "How's Sadie doing, by the way? She hasn't been over in a few weeks," he called back to him, now mostly focused on finding a decent channel. The teen shrugged, tapping on the wood. "She's fine. We've just been busy all week-I'unno."

"A little unsatisfying, but I get it. Tell 'er I said 'hey'."

The redhead nodded before the toast finally sprung into the air, causing him to jump with a gasp.

After completing the normal morning routine-stuffing his face, showering, somehow putting up with the god-awful puns at his father's discretion-Lars skateboarded into town, not exactly holding positive anticipation for a full day's work. He successfully blocked out any passerby's by blasting his music as high as he himself could tolerate. 'Blocking it all out' was a helpful method to calm down before facing irritating tourists and their bratty kids that would whine and scream until they left; it worked out fairly well until Ronaldo stopped the ginger in his tracks, placing one foot on his board and using the other to yank out his headphones. Lars stood in shock for a moment before glaring daggers at the giddy figure in his way.

"The hell do you want, dude?"

Ronaldo stopped bouncing in place for a moment to straighten his posture and look down on the latter condescendingly. "Have you seen my most recent post on my blog? You know, 'Keep Beach City-'" he was cut off as Lars let out a loud, irritated sigh. The daily routine was really starting to get old. "No, I don't follow your stupid blog. Get your foot off my board, I gotta get to work and you're getting sand all over it."

"Well, you're missin' out-it's all about me and my awesome new girlfriend."

"Why would I wanna read about your 'girlfriend' anyway? Who is it, Gertrude from the pawn shop?"

The blond boy glared at him with a low huff. "It's Kiki! You know, Jenny's sister? I've told you!" he claimed with theatrical exasperation. "And we both know that Gertrude is still a handsome woman." Lars just rolled his eyes, nudging him out of the way before rolling down the sidewalk. Ronaldo chased him for a few seconds, yelling about his latest updates before reluctantly giving up and heading back to work.

The redhead had made his way into the streets, slowing down significantly to accommodate passing pedestrians and vehicles. He twisted his expression into a sort of side-grimace, looking towards the ocean as his eyes strained against the sun. It was getting warmer out, and though the climate was easily swayed, many Beach City citizens believed it would stay that way. People were already making their way to the beach before the best spots were taken, as if what part of it they were on really mattered; it was a bit of a mystery to him.

Before he could continue on, Lars heard the call of his name, from a few different voices, over his music. He yanked out his headphones and felt butterflies in his stomach as the cool-kid trio motioned him to come to their steps. He made his way over as casually as he could, stopping in front of them and rolling the skateboard back and forth with his heel. "What's up?"

Buck looked up at him, sitting with his elbows on his knees. "You on your way to work?"

He nodded, plucking at a loose string on his sleeve.

Jenny smiled, leaning on the wall. "That's a shame, we were gonna go scout out some places down the beach-see if there's a place where people won't bother us as much."

"The tourist crowds here give off some harsh vibes," Sour Cream piped in. "Want to see if you can come?"

The teen smiled at the thought, and considered the possibilities-but quickly dismissed it after the recent fiasco of him ditching his shift. He shuffled in place with an awkward laugh. "Um…right now isn't really good for me. Maybe another time?"

"Sure thing." Jenny took a seat next to Buck. "We'll let you know later if we found a good one, so we can get a little group and head over, m'kay?" Lars nodded, feeling his anxiety settle down. "Sounds good. Later…" he coughed and smiled shyly as he skated towards his destination, his friends returning the sentiment.

Lars kicked his board into his hands as he entered the Big Donut, thankful that he didn't break a window. A half-asleep Sadie stood at the counter, pursing her lips into a thin line when she saw him. "You're 15 minutes late," she chirped, quickly going back to the task of cleaning the counters. Lars just shrugged and dropped his bag beside the door of the employee room. "Ronaldo stopped me on my way here and wouldn't let me leave."

She looked up at him. "Oh yeah, isn't he dating Kiki now?"

"Pft, I doubt it. Even if he is, he's a weirdo. I give it five days."

The short girl glared up at her friend before passing him a box of Lion Lickers to stock. "C'mon, give him a chance. I think they're cute together!" she smiled. The redhead just shook his head with a scoff and a 'whatever you say' before going to put the merchandise in its place. "How do you know about that anyway?" he muttered, tossing in the ice cream treats carelessly-and fixing them when Sadie's gaze bore into his back. "I check his blog sometimes…" She shrugged, tossing aside the rag.

"What? It's not even that good, seriously. It's just a bunch of made-up alien junk."

"It's fun! How else would we keep up with the stuff Steven does?"

"By looking out the window, probably." He tapped his fingers on the box. Sadie hummed and began tinkering with the cash register. "I don't know, Ronaldo has a sort of, like…_'childlike sense of wonder'_," she emphasized dramatically.

It was completely silent for a moment before Sadie spoke up timidly. "Hey, um…is it okay if I go watch Canine Court? I missed it yesterday, and it was supposed to be super heated…" She trailed off, but not before looking at her friend pleadingly. Lars laughed and nodded, along with a fourth or fifth eye-roll. "Sure, P2. We're totally swamped, but I'll make it," he lazily motioned his hand to the empty store; Sadie grinned and smacked his palm as she made her way into the back. "Thanks, Player 1!"

Lars bit the inside of his cheek as he heard the back room door close, setting down the empty box and trudging over to the cash register. He slunk into the stool behind the counter and rested his head in his arms tiredly.

Sure, it was a slow morning, but it was routine.


	2. Workdays

Lars was jerked from his half-asleep state to the sound of the door bell clinging loudly.

Steven waltzed up to the counter, slamming several wrinkly dollars in front of the teen with a grin. "Four of the usual-" he whipped around to see Amethyst smacking her palms on the glass vigorously, holding up two fingers. "-Make it five."

The ginger groaned, snatching the cash before grabbing a bag and lazily scooping the doughnuts inside. "Whatever, but tell that purple chick to stop bangin' on the window. She's gonna crack it, and I don't really like cleaning up fingerprints." He wrinkled his nose up at the memory of the last three times they had to clean it; it was a pain, and he had a hunch that Amethyst knew it, too.

The boy hummed and nodded, sliding the doughnuts into his shirt for no discernible reason-but that was just how he was. Lars rolled his eyes and began flipping through a random magazine he pulled from the stack. It took him a few minutes, but as he felt an intense stare burning into the top of his head, the redhead realized that Steven hadn't left. He was just standing there, smiling.

The teen mustered up the nastiest glare he could in the moment and stared right back. "Don't you got somewhere to be? Go give that gem lady her doughnuts before she breaks the window with a rock."

"She won't do it this time, I promise! I told her not to!" Steven whined. "Where's Sadie, by the way? Is she sick or something?"

It was actually a pretty good question.

Lars shrugged. "I'unno. Watchin' TV in the back." She was most likely asleep on the napkins by now.

The gem boy nodded and resorted back to humming, which was gradually growing louder as he lightly kicked and bumped his legs into the counter. Lars was doing alright at tuning it out; of course, when the kid let out a random burst of laughter, his magazine flew across the room and the napkin holder fell to the floor with a 'clang'.

The redhead whipped around, ready to burst. "Watch it, you little f-!"

"Sorry, I'm sorry! It was an accident-those dancing doughnuts look really funny."

The ginger scoffed contemptuously. "Jeez, where're all your friends? Go chill with them, I'm busy."

Steven put all his weight onto the counter, lifting himself by his arms so that his feet weren't even touching the ground. "They're all busy _working. _Besides, you don't look all that busy. Bring Sadie out so we can _all_ talk together!"

Lars just let out a loud, irritated sigh. "No. Go away," he mumbled tiredly. He knew Steven was persistent, but it was usually a lot more purposeless, either way-

"So, what's up with you and Sadie, anyway?"

The teen looked up at him, a little caught off guard. It was a pretty out of the blue question. "Um…we're fine, why?"

"No reason, just curious!" Steven grinned. "So, do you like her?"

"Duh, we're friends."

The latter smacked his hand over his face. "No! I mean, like-" he propped himself on the counter again, leaning much closer than before. "Do you _like _like her?"

It took Lars a few seconds to process the question, but he felt an extreme burning sensation tingling in his cheeks once it did. He had a rolled up newspaper raised within seconds, swinging it at Steven's retreating figure as he stumbled over his words. "G-Go hang out with those gem ladies, you little brat!" Steven just gave him a thumbs up and a wink before leaving with his doughnuts. "You got it, dude!"

Typical.

The next few hours hadn't been much better. Lars was still a little riled up by the time rush hour began to drift in. In the summer, this meant business and a pretty decent paycheck. But, it also meant tourists.

At this time of year and day, there'd usually be a dozen or so cranky people crowded in the store at once if not more. Sadie would always be the one to serve them, and Lars would either be on break or stocking. But, of course, Sadie was asleep in the back and there wasn't much he could do about the potential influx of people.

One thing Lars had always hated was people, especially strangers, yelling at him for things that were clearly out of his control (or yelling in general). When summer rolled around, that was all there was-out-of-city vacationers that would yell at an employee any chance they got. It was even worse when the place was packed: foot tapping, rude statements made to friends non-discreetly, and everyone staring right at you as the sad chump in the front of the line goes red in the face ruining your self-esteem. While these days were limited, they were a nightmare.

Lars wasn't particularly lucky that day.

Rush hour hadn't even started by the time this man had come in and began yelling at him. As it turned out, he allegedly called the store beforehand to place an order, but the phone had been dead silent all day; they didn't even sell the flavor he was looking for. Even though the teen had tried his best to explain the situation or go to the back to get Sadie, his customer wouldn't listen-he'd just keep screaming.

One man was something he could barely handle, but he still could through shaking, sweaty palms. But the man's spiel wasn't even halfway over before people began piling in. Now, he was stuck trying to help this man, shaking and feeling ready to burst into tears. People in the back were glaring at him, checking their empty wrists to make a point, and shouting loud or occasionally passive-aggressive questions. "What's taking so long?" "I just wanted _one _doughnut." "What's up with this kid?" "Ever heard of proper service?"

Lars swore his knees almost gave out before Sadie rushed in with a yawn. "Sir, please order or leave."

People seemed to instantly calm down as she got the man to leave and began progressing the line, but Lars felt numbness to his fingertips. The blonde patted his back, gently pushing him in the direction of the supply closet, indicating that being on cleaning duty might help the situation a bit.

But, it didn't. The embarrassment only made him shake worse as he grabbed the mop and went to the furthest corner of the store. He hated these days the most.

In ten minutes, Sadie had taken care of the massive customer influx and had been just beneath overwhelmed. She peeked over at her coworker, who was vigorously scrubbing the mop on the floor; he stayed in the same spot and refused to look anywhere but the puddle he'd distractedly made.

The short girl pursed her lips together in a frown. She made her way over Lars and gently grabbed the mop from his hands, balancing it against the wall. "Hey, everything alright?"

He stared at her for a moment before forcing a normal scoff and kicking his shoe in the puddle. "Duh, why wouldn't it?"

Sadie looked up at him for a moment before sighing. "I'm sorry you had to deal with those guys."

Lars just stared at his reflection in the tile, silent for a moment. "'S whatever. Just some grade-A jerks…"

"No, I'm serious. Rush hour sucks, I promise I'll help out more next time. I get it."

The redhead bit the inside of his cheek, darting his eyes back and forth. "Yeah…alright…" his words came out as more of a whisper than he intended, but Sadie smiled all the same.

"Good! So," she bubbled as cheerily as she could manage to change the subject, "How's the PSAT studying going?" The shorter girl dropped some napkins on the pool of water her coworker had created, rushing off the get more.

Lars bit his lip out of habit, dropping a few spare paper towels and rolling the water bucket back to its closet. "It's…going." In other words, he hadn't been studying.

Sadie looked back at him as she made her way around the counter, using her pinky to move a wavy lock from her vision. "I can help you, ya'know. I've taken the PSATs, they're pretty easy as long as you study right."

"No thanks, man."

"What? Why?"

He shrugged. "I don't really need to study, I'm gonna know the stuff…" he trailed off, leaning against the Lion Licker fridge. Sadie just sighed with a frown.

"So, you haven't actually been studying, right?"

"…Nah."

The blonde toyed with the register, another sigh escaping from her lips. "Lars, this is a big deal."

"How? They're not the legit SATs, I don't get anything out of 'em."

"But they're helpful! And you can get a scholarship if you do well on it this year…"

"A scholarship so I can go to Nashville or some shit? Whoopie." Lars cringed at the harshness in his own voice, refusing to look at Sadie. "Listen, just…can we drop this? I'll study for them eventually. I got a lot of junk on my mind." He was never good at test taking; school in general was definitely not his forte. After enough time had passed of him barely scraping by the quizzes, homework, etc…he stopped caring. It was just his way.

Sadie just gave him a sad little smile, suddenly feeling pushy. "Yeah, I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

After a few more hours of consistent tourists and hiding in the breakroom, their work day had finally come to a close. Lars slung his bag over his shoulder with relief and was about to hop on his skateboard before Sadie fell into the steps beside him. He just looked down at her with a raised brow. "What'cha doing?"

"I thought maybe we could chill at your place-if that's okay."

The teen swiped through the apps on his phone before shoving it back in his pocket. "Sure, 'course. What about your car, though?"

"The engine is messed up, so it's in the shop. I took the bus to work."

"Ah."

The walk home wasn't too eventful, beside Ronaldo stopping them for ten minutes to talk about his blog-again. As they turned into the neighborhood, Sadie noticed how quiet her friend had become and poked his shoulder. "You okay?"

Lars didn't answer for a moment, but seemed to snap out of his little trance within seconds. "Sorry-what?"

"I asked if you were okay."

He nodded, laughing a little. "I'm fine, just tired, 's all…" The redhead had always felt the change of atmosphere when he and Sadie just had time to themselves…it was calming, and a little peaceful.

Sadie took his word for it as the teen fumbled with his keys, nudging the door open with his shoulder. "My dad won't be home till, like, eleven." She just nodded.

"Gimme' a sec, I gotta let Piper in," he waved his hand carelessly before running off to the back door. Within a few seconds of clicking locks and squeaks, a moderately sized dog sprinted to Sadie and practically jumped on her. Light bounced off her sleek brown and black fur as she placed her paws on the short girl's shoulders.

"Hey, baby Pipes!"

"Yo-Piper, ged'down!" Lars patted her scruff a few times and plopped down on the couch, the canine pouncing on his lap with the element of surprise. "You fuckin'…your butt's heavy, get off!" he whined, but Piper stayed put, rubbing her cheeks against his.

Sadie couldn't help but laugh at her friend's pout, and plopped down beside him. "So, you wanna play some video games?"

"Yeah, man-as soon as I get this little shit to stop crushing me."

The blonde coaxed Piper to rest on her lap as she grabbed a few stray controllers, handing one to Lars. "Let's play Deadspace."

"Fuck no."

"C'mon, it's not even scary…"

"I had alien…things, jumping at me every thirty seconds. I'm not puttin' myself through that again."

He got up and rushed to a cabinet beside the TV, rummaging through the drawer before thrusting an old N64 Mortal Kombat into the air. "This. We're playing this."

Lars placed it in its designated slot before body-slamming himself back onto the couch, reaching over to scratch Piper's ears. "1v1 me, bro."

Sadie just looked over at him with a content smile before getting into primal battle mode.

"You're goin' down."


	3. Stress Relief

Sadie had been perpetually blinded by the light that shone through the living room window, causing her to rouse from her half-asleep state with a groan.

As she glanced around the room, she noticed an array of empty soda cans and half-empty bags of chips, all scattered across the coffee table. The blonde vaguely recalled the night before; she and Lars had played video games together until they pretty much passed out from exhaustion and over-eating. Even though the consumption of numerous fat-filled foods left her feeling anything but refreshed, it had been a fairly fun night.

Looking to the couch, Sadie noticed a small blanketed lump with ginger curls peeking through the top. A limp arm hung from underneath the cloth and off the side of the cushions, fingers curling lightly every few minutes before falling motionless. She herself had slept on the beanbag chair (which was surprisingly comfortable, especially with her stature). Of course, it wasn't like there were many other options, and a bolster was as good as it got.

A moderately loud 'bang' from the kitchen broke into her thoughts and caused her to swivel her head towards the disruption; her worries subsided as Lars's dad appeared in the doorway with a yawn, holding a slightly battered frying pan. His patches of stubble were fairly obvious, as were the newfound stains on his nightshirt. He was never the most cleanly looking man in the morning. But, despite looking as unkempt as he was, he smiled brightly at her. "G'mornin'! You kids had fun last night?"

Sadie smiled drowsily in return. "Yeah-passed out halfway through the game, though."

"I noticed. _This_ one was about three-quarters off the couch when I got home," the man snickered as he leaned over the edge of the armrest, shaking what he assumed to be the lump's shoulders. Lars only groaned sleepily and reached up to swat the hand in response. "C'mon, kid. You gotta get up sometime."

Sadie looked over at the digital clock on the TV box: 12:03 p.m.

She was nowhere near used to waking up at or past noon-something she was usually extremely well at avoiding, since it became a natural habit to get up earlier than she'd like. Of course, when staying up until two in the morning with nothing to look at but a television screen that burned your retinas, it was to be expected. It was definitely an everyday routine for _Lars_...but not her.

There was an awkward silence before Sadie turned to face the man fully. "So…what's up with…you know, that?" She pointed to the beaten frying pan, positive it had seen better days.

He looked at her with confusion before looking down at his hand and laughing. "Oh, there was a fly on the counter." He paused, scratching the back of his head. "Or…I think there was. This old bag of bones'll toss a frying pan at anything nowadays, huh?"

Sadie laughed, inspecting a small itch on her calf. "Yeah…"

"Anyways, I gotta get ready for work." Lars's dad had opted against shoving his son off the couch entirely, feeling friendly.

"You work on Saturdays…?"

"Got to keep the money coming the best I can. It's just a small setup gig," he called from over his shoulder, setting [what was left of] the frying pan on the counter and grabbing a few pieces of toast. "Do me a favor, and get Lars up before one? Need'a get him back in the habit before school starts again."

Sadie smiled, reaching down to vigorously scratch at a mosquito bite on her leg. "Mhm, I will. Thank you." She was rewarded with a large grin and a string of profanities as the man tripped over every little object in his way. He recovered quickly upon reaching his bedroom and slamming the door closed.

The next few minutes had, of course, felt a little too awkward to just sit there doing nothing; she had come to the realization that this was the first instance she had woken up at Lars's house…in a while, at least. They used to do it all the time, almost every other night, even! But, after all the most recent incidents-the bailing, the lying, their ultimately disastrous game night from so many months ago-it was odd.

Yet, despite this, she felt more at home than she'd felt in a long, long time.

The shorter girl had finally gathered the energy to scoot over to the couch with intentions of waking up her friend; she knew he'd never get up without some kind of motivation. Instead, she found herself sitting next to the lump of blankets that was surely Lars, watching as the fan above their heads occasionally caused a ginger curl to shift in place. She felt slightly mesmerized by his miniscule movements: the rise and fall of the blanket, the contours his folded up limbs created through the fabric, the fact that the room was so silent to the point where she could hear how soft his breathing had become. It felt like the calm before the storm, which honestly didn't come around often enough. At least he _looked_ peaceful.

Of course, her train of thought was shattered as Lars's phone began to ring and vibrate its way to the edge of the coffee table, rousing him immediately. Before she could bother reacting, Lars sat up from his drowsy state, shrugging aside the blanket and scratching his fingers through his hair with a tired sigh. "Mmf…Sadie?"

Sadie felt a familiar warmth spread across her cheeks; she'd just been sitting there for god knows how long, staring at him, too deep in thought to notice. "I was, um…I was gonna wake you up," she faltered. "…I'm pretty sure your phone's ringing."

"Cool," Lars yawned before snatching his phone and plopping back down on the couch. He lazily held it to his ear, still barely awake as he answered. "Yo."

"Lars? It's Jenny."

The teen froze for a moment in surprise before smiling and turning to lay on his belly with a stretch. "Hey, wassup?"

Sour Cream could easily be heard playing some sort of electric-pop in the background before Jenny spoke up again. "We found a super cool spot down the west side of the beach-we're gonna check it out today, you in?"

Lars bit the inside of his cheek, noticing Sadie's curious stare. "Yeah, who's all gonna be there? Just you guys?"

"Nah-Ronaldo and Kiki are coming, too. Bring Sadie, it's going to be a group thing."

"A'ight…text me later about it, and we'll meet up with you guys, yeah?"

After their goodbyes, Lars was silent for a moment, drowsiness throwing off his train of thought. Sadie stared at him for a second before speaking up expectantly. "Who was that?"

"…Oh, shit-that was Jenny, we're gonna scope out a spot down the beach with everyone later."

Sadie nodded with a tiny smile. "That sounds fun." She didn't hang out with Lars's friends too often because of her recent busy schedule, but she liked them and they liked her.

"It will be!" the redhead laughed snarkily, sitting up and stretching his arms over his head until he heard a pop; he winced as a few zings of pain shot down his torso, causing him to flinch at the tenderness. _'Shit.'_

"You alright, Lars?"

"…I'm fine, just-" A few more sore stings cut him short and forced out a small noise of discomfort.

Sadie was plopped next to him on the couch almost instantaneously. "Seriously, what's the matter? Is it your arm? Does your chest hurt?"

"...Y-yeah. It's nothing, though, really."

The blonde knew better. He'd been apprehensive of talking about it, and she knew it. Though the topic had rarely been brought up between them in weeks, maybe months, she still wanted to be as supportive as ever. "Did you sleep in your binder?"

He was deathly quiet before nodding, looking away inelegantly. "I was too out of it to take it off, I guess…"

"…You know it's bad to keep it on for so long. C'mere."

Sadie gently turned him around by his shoulders and lifted up the back of his shirt to take a look at the garment. Lars opened his mouth to object, but decided trying wasn't worth the effort-not to mention he was too sore to reach back and undo the article himself; he resorted to staring at his knuckles, frustrated at his own falter.

The shorter girl carefully un-hooked the chest binder, trying her hardest not to push down; of course, it came naturally to her. Ever since they were kids, she'd known that her friend was transgender, and always did her best to support him. She'd even bought him an actual binder when they began seventh grade, after discovering ace bandages scattered haphazardly around his bathroom. She'd help him until he got the hang of it, which was a relatively quick process; even then, she'd still assist him in finding more efficient techniques to cope. In general, Lars had always been comfortable with letting Sadie help him with these kinds of issues.

Of course, that was years ago.

As soon as Sadie had undone the last hook, she swore she heard a rush of air fill her friend's lungs. She furrowed her brows together with concern and lightly touched the faint bruises that remained, pulling her hand back once she felt him flinch. "Jeez, Lars…you need to stop tightening it so much. You're going to mess up your ribs or something, big time."

"I can't really make it any looser…"

"Then I think you need a new one. These should _not_ be bruising you this bad," she sighed. "You have that other one, right? The waterproof one? Wear that for a while, or until you get another, at least."

Lars shook his head, tossing the battered binder aside and tugging the hem of his shirt downward awkwardly. "…I like that one. It does what it needs to…" he grumbled and trailed off, looking at the floor. It's wasn't like that one was totally defective, he just couldn't wear it for a whole day without a few bruises. But, of course, he knew better.

Sadie desperately wanted to convince him otherwise, but only sighed. "Just…wear the other one when we go out later with everybody, okay? For today, please?" It was a mystery to her as to why such a tattered garment seemed so valuable, especially since it was so easily replaceable (if you had the money for a decent one). Lars just nodded in response, not bothering to initiate further conversation from that point.

"Good. Should we get ready for later, then?"

Lars yawned again, attempting to pass off the remaining awkward tension. "It's gonna be a while-and I'm tired."

Sadie just pursed her lips together and gave a small, singular pat to his back, minding the bruises. "I have to stop by my apartment to change...plus, your dad wanted me to get you up anyway." She smiled and grabbed her jacket from the floor. "So don't fall asleep again."

The redhead just groaned and fell back onto the pillows with exhaustion.

After about 30 minutes of preparation to actually move, Lars trudged to the bathroom to get ready for the day while Sadie ran to her apartment. He'd lingered in the shower long enough for her make the round trip…which didn't surprise her. She just kicked back and switched on the TV to pass the time.

As Sadie relaxed, Lars just sat in his room half-dressed, sighing and he pulling on the spare binder; despite the soreness, he had to reluctantly admit that it was a much more comfortable fit. Reluctantly.

He looked down at his shaky hands resting in his lap before clenching them tightly. He'd done this plenty of times by now, but…Lars was genuinely worried. He liked hanging out with his newfound friends; laughing, adventuring, even Ronaldo was bearable at times…but the overwhelming paranoia stuck with him. A fear that he would say one thing and, once again, become an exclusion. A fear that they'd never want to speak to him again, that he'd be an embarrassment, or a simulation to an annoying little brother who followed you everywhere you went. He was scared of becoming too much work to put up with. And then, he'd be alone.

His fingernails were digging painfully into his palms at this point. He quickly pushed the negative thoughts away and threw on a large t-shirt and hoodie, the graphics too faded to make out the original snake design. He continued assuring himself that everything would be fine, just as it always was. It wasn't like the crew to be as cruel as he feared, right?

Sadie jumped in surprise as Lars threw himself on the spot next to her with a large bag of tortilla chips. She felt annoyance spread through her as he held the bag so it was tilting dangerously close to the edge. "Hey-don't spill those, they get crunched up in the cushions, you klutz."

"I won't! And you just bullied your way out of getting any."

She wrinkled her nose as he noisily shoveled the chips into his mouth for emphasis and kicked his feet onto the table, an action he knew she disliked (it always seemed condescending when he did it). To her surprise, his jeans were rolled up to about mid-calf, neutrally accenting the tattered Toms she hadn't seen since his freshman year. It wasn't very like him to experiment with old styles. "So…are you reverting back to your hipster phase?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. "What?" he questioned, his voice muffled by a mouthful of chips.

"The capris. I mean, they look fine, but you look like a hipster, if that's what you're going for."

Lars just scoffed, subconsciously bringing his legs down from the table. "One, they're not capris, they're just rolled up. It's comfortable. Two, I'm not a hipster."

"Okay…but both you and your MP3 player look like one."

The squabble went on for a few minutes before Lars's phone began vibrating enthusiastically on the table, causing the teen to practically dive into the furniture. He quickly answered the call upon seeing Jenny's ID. "Yeah?"

"Hey, meet us outside the pawn shop, if you're still down to check the beach out," Jenny spoke into the phone with a smile as Ronaldo excitedly showed the contents of his laptop to an uncomfortable Buck, who was looking around for any excuse to change the subject. "…Sooner than later."

Lars plopped back down on the couch, resting his arm on the side with a scoff. "I'm down, obviously. We'll be there in a few."

Sadie raised an eyebrow as her friend dropped the phone beside him with a content sigh. "…So? News about the plans?" she pried gently, as Lars tended to forget things depending on just how exhausted he was.

The boy looked at her for a moment, confused, before a smile of excitement and remembrance stretched across his cheeks. "Oh, yeah! We gotta meet Jenny at the pawn shop, and she's gonna show us the place they found." Lars shoved his phone in his pocket before tossing the chips aside and practically dragging Sadie to the door. "This is gonna be so rad."

Sadie just smiled lightly and nodded, happy to see him so ecstatic for once.

When they arrived, Kiki had managed to pry Ronaldo away from his ongoing spiel regarding Beach City conspiracies and "polymorphic sentient rocks", giving Buck and Sour Cream a great deal of relief. Lars held back a dorky grin as he and Sadie came into the group. "Sup, guys?"

Everyone mumbled returning 'hello's' to each other as Ronaldo shoved his laptop into his bag, neither him or Lars too incredibly joyful to see each other. There wasn't really any hatred, but it's not like there was an undeniable friendship in its place, either. Jenny only grinned, leaning up against the wall. "So, you guys ready to check this place out?"

Sadie pursed her lips together uneasily, having heard Lars's theatrical tale of Dead Man's Mouth; it was obvious that he'd exaggerated the story through a mess of breathlessness, but needless to say, she was still weary of stumbling upon a replica of the situation. "…Where is it, exactly?"

"It's just this little part of the beach with a bunch of…weird rocks, I guess? It's pretty chill…" Jenny grinned before visibly shuddering. "…and no moss."

Lars opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word in, Ronaldo nosedived into another infamous speech about the Gem-related occurrences. "You know, your very experience with sentient _moss _could very well be a branch off of the polymorphic entities and organisms I'm researching. You'd know that if you took a look at my blog, _'Keep_-"

"We know! You don't have to talk about your dumb blog _every _time!" Lars groaned obnoxiously.

Before the two could angrily close in on each other, Sour Cream monotonously intervened. "Hey man, let's go check out that place sooner than later, yeah?"

"Yeah. Negative vibes aren't my style," Buck piped in from his seat on the steps, having been quiet almost the whole time. The group nodded in seemingly reluctant agreement.

On the way to their destination, everyone had done well with engaging in meaningless (and harmless) conversation; Ronaldo somehow refrained from too many more excited outbursts thanks to Kiki's guiding, and Lars stuck next to Sadie until he felt comfortable enough to slip into the group's multiple exchanges…which never took too much time. That was just the basic nature of how things played out between them all, but it was enjoyable.

"It's up here!" Jenny urged the group to switch paces, rushing over to the palette of smooth, dark rock mounds. They seemed eroded over decades of harsh weather that created faint swirling patterns on the surface, giving the impression of something fresh off the pottery wheel. "This is, like, the best place to chill."

"Yeah, man, nobody ever comes over here to harsh the vibes."

Sadie smiled as Lars went and plopped next to Sour Cream and Jenny on one of the larger rocks, with her following suit. "This is pretty cool!" She observed their surroundings, taking in the cool sea breeze with a neutral clarity. The smell of the ocean was barely genuine in town during the summer; tourists would cloud its natural scent with unauthorized barbecues, bug spray, or maybe even the general negativity the mass would drag from one place to another-

"Whoa, this place has _rock slides_?"

The blonde was thrown from her train of thought before joining the group in marveling at Ronaldo's discovery. The faint sound of winding water finally reached her ears, and had been previously unnoticed due to the overpowering grumble of the waves. Sure enough, a few sets of smoothed-out stone caved in enough for streams of clear, fresh water to pass through and into the sea. The slides twisted around the rocks set further down, hiding themselves well.

Jenny shrugged and placed her hands on her hips. "Huh. Guess we didn't see this last time we were here."

"But where's the water coming from?" Kiki questioned; but Ronaldo was already on it, crossing his arms across his chest. "It's coming from those trees. Most likely a lake, or a general fresh body of water," Ronaldo stated proudly, not noticing everyone making their way towards where the streams and foliage met. Lars bumped his shoulder against the latter as he passed with a contemptuous scoff. "No shit, Sherlock."

The sight that welcomed the group through the bushes was nothing less than surprising. A small river wound through the array of vegetation, depositing in a deep, glistening bed enveloped in a leafy clearing. The foremost trees had created a canopy in which the sun shone through in rays, vibrantly bouncing off the water in some spots while gently accentuating the ripples from an occasional fish in others. A grazed shoreline dipped in with no definition of where it and the water abruptly met; from one of the tree branches, a seemingly untouched rope hung with a think stick tired to the end, resting right over a small boulder that held a faint coat of moss.

"Damn…" Buck was the first to step forward as he took in the atmosphere. "Pretty chill."

"Yeah…" Jenny mumbled, staring at the patterned shade above them. "Better not be another DMM."

Ronaldo kneeled in front of the boulder, snapping his fingers. "Nuh-uh. I've seen the magic moss from your tremor tale, and this isn't it at all!"

Lars shuffled with annoyance. "At least talk like a normal kid…" he mumbled, earning him a swift elbow to the side as well as a warning side-glare from Sadie. He just rolled his eyes and sighed, resorting back to taking in the sight with awe.

The place was far from unbearable to him; even though the moss incident left him with his doubts, and his reasonable fears, Lars felt a generally positive vibe from the place. With the lighting, the atmosphere, the seclusion of it all…relatively speaking, it was pretty relaxing.

"Man, I'unno how we didn't find this place last time…" Buck stated simply, stretching his arms behind his back.

Kiki shrugged. "Maybe you guys couldn't hear the water over the ocean…?"

"That's probably it…" Jenny mumbled, chewing on the inside of her cheek and giving one final inspection.

"Well…Prob'ly shouldn't jinx myself, but who wants to go for a swim?"

Lars himself quickly snapped back into reality at the sound of jackets being unzipped and quickly discarded. An uncomfortable sensation washed over him as he shifted back a few paces. Memories from the moss incident chilled him to the bone as both him and Sadie shook their heads, almost simultaneously. "Um…you guys go ahead, we're good…"

"C'mon, guys!" Kiki smiled, already mid-calf deep in the clear water. "It's not bad."

Buck proudly threw his sweatshirt aside as Sour Cream draped the bottom portion of his shorts over a small rock. "Doesn't _look _dangerous."

"Neither did Dead Man's Mouth!-well, I'unno, sorta…" Lars trailed off for a moment before whining once again. "What if it's another magical junky thing, anyway?"

Jenny placed a hand on his shoulder as she passed, kicking off her flats. "Lighten up, Lars! It's no big deal-see, there's barely any moss." She rolled her eyes as the teen just stared at his shoes with a grumble. "Suit yourselves. I'm going swimming!" They all collectively cheered, piling up against the shore.

Before Lars knew it, Sadie had taken a few brave steps forward, tossing her jacket to the side and turning to him with a sheepish smile. "C'mon, Lars…it'll be fine! Let's all just have fun together, okay?"

At the lack of a response, Sadie rolled her eyes and sighed, strolling over to the water. "Your call."

Jackets, shoes, and a few pairs of jeans were strewn haphazardly on nearby grass patches as most of the group frolicked carelessly in the water; Lars sat on small log to the side, pulling off his hoodie once the midday sun began to bore down mercilessly through the trees. It was strange; Beach City's drastic weather changes was something he could never get used to no matter how hard he tried.

"Yo, Lars!" The teen lolled his head lazily towards a smug, partially submerged Ronaldo, who's grin only grew wider. "What, too scared to come in or something?"

Lars scowled, ignoring Kiki's seemingly distant scolding. "No. Just don't feel like getting wet. Duh."

The blonde boy scoffed and gave him a sarcastic 'suit yourself' before hopping out of the water for a break. Before Lars could begin his whining again, Sadie doggy paddled over to the nearest rock with a smile. "It's not that cold or anything, you know," she said giddily. "We're having fun, c'mon!"

"I told ya, I don't feel like it," he grumbled, ignoring the rustling of the bushes behind him thoughtlessly.

Sadie glanced behind him for a moment and opened her mouth to say something, but shut it once again with a sheepish, almost apologetic gaze.

The moment he thought to turn around, someone had already wrapped their arms tightly around his torso and lifted him into the air, running towards the water; he was frozen in complete shock and terror, unable to move in the stranger's grasp. They hopped onto a rock, and Lars barely had time to struggle as he was tackled into the water with a screech.

He resurfaced within seconds to uncontrollable laughter and gasped for air. Ronaldo swam to the side of the shore, unable to do anything but slap his knee in hysterics. "Gotcha!" Lars felt his face become hot with embarrassment and anger, clinging to a nearby, semi-submerged boulder like a betrayed child. "You dick! That is _not _funny!" he barked; his t-shirt and jeans stuck to him with minor discomfort, only furthering his annoyance. He was, at the very least, thankful for his choice in a binder.

Jenny couldn't even pretend to hold back her giggles. "C'mon, lighten up! At least you're in the water, right?"

"Yeah, man. Might as well swim," Buck piped in, floating on his back in the water with a content smile.

"That wasn't fair!" The redhead pursed his lips together and loosened his grip on the rock before glaring at Sadie. "You didn't warn me or nothin'. That's a dick move."

The girl just shrugged nonchalantly and splashed him with a muffled giggle. Lars fell back into the water with a hiss, pushing vigorous waves of water her way. Within moments, the group was neck-and-neck in a splash war, Buck ignoring it completely and just continuing to float on his back as if nothing had happened at all.

Whatever pent up tension that remained was thrown to the wind for the next two hours. They splashed, swam, harmlessly tugged each other beneath the surface, even venturing a little further down the bank; the small makeshift swing that hung from a low hanging tree branch was quickly deemed safe as everyone took turns seeing who could make the largest splash (Kiki, one way or another, had ultimately won). By the time the water had pruned them up significantly and was enough of a reason to dry off, the sun begun to set over the water, casting hues of pink and orange to bounce across the surface of the pond.

Jenny and Sour Cream set up a small, makeshift bonfire by the shore to warm up before their trek back to town. Sadie single-handedly pulled up whatever logs she could find for seats, snatching Lars's hoodie and tugging it over her head. "I'm using this, by the way."

Lars wrinkled up his nose to make sure he could still feel it before scoffing and plopping himself down on a log. "Fine. Then, I'm using…" He felt the area around him for a moment before grabbing and wrapping her jacket around him as if it were a shawl. "…this."

Once everyone was seated and in the process of warding away the cold, Ronaldo plunged into one of his latest conspiracy theories about Mayor Dewey's "true intentions," ignoring Buck's multitude of confused disconfirmations. For once, nobody minded listening-either that, or nobody was really paying attention enough to quarrel. Sadie smiled, thoughtlessly looking down at her cold toes and wriggling them for some kind of sensation. Lars just stared at the twisting and contortions of the ongoing flame; the day had gone better than expected, with him not admitting to feeling surprisingly neutral.

It was sort of nice.

"C'mon, we should probably get going," Jenny sighed as she stood up and stretched her arms high above her head. The gang nodded, quickly putting out the fire before following suit as they made their way through the trees and back to the slides.

"That was pretty fun, I guess…" Lars mumbled, much to Sadie's pleasure, staring at the sky.

"Yeah, man. We gotta do that again soon."

"Truth."

"That was the best."

Nobody was in too much of a hurry to part ways, carelessly climbing over large rocks and telling awful jokes to pass the time. Of course, as soon as the town came into view, they all stared in silent amazement at how bright Beach City routinely became once the sun went down. Local businesses kept their windows beaming through the wear and tear of tourist season; streetlamps and strings of bright white lights (which was really just makeshift Christmas décor) littered every building and business within immediate view. Funland almost seemed alive, casting an array of illumination into the sky for all to see and admire throughout the town.

Sure, they'd seen it plenty of times, but never like this. It was almost enchanting.

"I'll see you guys later," Jenny grinned, both her and Kiki making their way to their decently irritated father at the pizza shop. Buck and Sour Cream gave their friends exhausted side-hugs as they left, and began racing within only a few minutes. Ronaldo left them with en enthusiastic 'keep beach city weird' and ran back to Beach Citywalk Fries, as well as an annoyed Peedee.

Sadie smiled and sighed, looking up at Lars as she walked him home, just as she always did. "You want your hoodie back?"

"…Nah, you can hold onto it, if you want."

"You sure?"

He scoffed, stuffing one hand in his pocket while the other kept Sadie's jacket wrapped around his shoulders. "Yeah. I got tons of hoodies, that one isn't even that great."

Sadie stared at him for a moment, a smile unconsciously spreading across her cheeks as she recalled his little mannerisms at the river-his laughter, his first genuine smile of the day, the way he seemed to forget the weight he held on his shoulders (one he'd never openly admit to having). She always missed seeing him so calm, as it was relatively short-lived…but it was enough to reassure her.

As they arrived at his house, she only grinned and patted his back with a friendly shrug.

"Whatever you say."


End file.
